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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 759.5 EAN: 9780375759864 ISBN: 0375759867 Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 320 Publication Date: November 07, 2006 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Release Date: November 07, 2006 Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks Editorial Review: Product Description: An Italian village on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast, a decaying palazzo facing the sea, and in the basement, cobwebbed and dusty, lit by a single bulb, an archive unknown to scholars. Here, a young graduate student from Rome, Francesca Cappelletti, makes a discovery that inspires a search for a work of art of incalculable value, a painting lost for almost two centuries. The artist was Caravaggio, a master of the Italian Baroque. He was a genius, a revolutionary painter, and a man beset by personal demons. Four hundred years ago, he drank and brawled in the taverns and streets of Rome, moving from one rooming house to another, constantly in and out of jail, all the while painting works of transcendent emotional and visual power. He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth, but success didn’t alter his violent temperament. His rage finally led him to commit murder, forcing him to flee Rome a hunted man. He died young, alone, and under strange circumstances. Caravaggio scholars estimate that between sixty and eighty of his works are in existence today. Many others–no one knows the precise number–have been lost to time. Somewhere, surely, a masterpiece lies forgotten in a storeroom, or in a small parish church, or hanging above a fireplace, mistaken for a mere copy. Prizewinning author Jonathan Harr embarks on an spellbinding journey to discover the long-lost painting known as The Taking of Christ–its mysterious fate and the circumstances of its disappearance have captivated Caravaggio devotees for years. After Francesca Cappelletti stumbles across a clue in that dusty archive, she tracks the painting across a continent and hundreds of years of history. But it is not until she meets Sergio Benedetti, an art restorer working in Ireland, that she finally manages to assemble all the pieces of the puzzle. Told with consummate skill by the writer of the bestselling, award-winning A Civil Action, The Lost Painting is a remarkable synthesis of history and detective story. The fascinating details of Caravaggio’s strange, turbulent career and the astonishing beauty of his work come to life in these pages. Harr’s account is not unlike a Caravaggio painting: vivid, deftly wrought, and enthralling. ". . . Jonathan Harr has gone to the trouble of writing what will probably be a bestseller . . . rich and wonderful. . .in truth, the book reads better than a thriller because, unlike a lot of best-selling nonfiction authors who write in a more or less novelistic vein (Harr's previous book, A Civil Action, was made into a John Travolta movie), Harr doesn't plump up hi tale. He almost never foreshadows, doesn't implausibly reconstruct entire conversations and rarely throws in litanies of clearly conjectured or imagined details just for color's sake. . .if you're a sucker for Rome, and for dusk. . .[you'll] enjoy Harr's more clearly reported details about life in the city, as when--one of my favorite moments in the whole book--Francesca and another young colleague try to calm their nerves before a crucial meeting with a forbidding professor by eating gelato. And who wouldn't in Italy? The pleasures of travelogue here are incidental but not inconsiderable." --The New York Times Book Review "Jonathan Harr has taken the story of the lost painting, and woven from it a deeply moving narrative about history, art and taste--and about the greed, envy, covetousness and professional jealousy of people who fall prey to obsession. It is as perfect a work of narrative nonfiction as you could ever hope to read." --The Economist From the Hardcover edition. Average Rating:
 Rating: - A rare nonfiction glimpse into world of art investigationJonathan Harr brings you into the world of people toiling to authenticate a Caravaggio. Their integrity and dedication to their profession is revealing. It is nonfiction so the ending lacks drama but we feel the satisfaction of the people involved. Rating:  - Bringing a Painting to LifeA wonderful book, a great story is doubly enriched with the finely drawn characters of the players in it. Rating: - A worthy second bookSome authors with a best seller under their belts have been content to pump out a series of books in a similar vein. Jonathan Harr seems to be following a different path, good for him. Published ten years after A Civil Action, an acclaimed account of an environmental lawsuit told from the viewpoint of the attorneys involved, The Lost Painting deals with the arcane world of searching for, restoring, and authenticating art treasures. Readers follow in the footsteps of Francesca ... Read More Rating: - Wonderful storyI was given the book to read by a friend who loves museums. It was a wonderful book and now when I visit museums in Rome my husband and I always head for the Caravaggio paintings (it helps that we live here). The book was interesting and I read it straight through. I have recommended it to others also. Rating:  - Less Than Illuminating"Less Than Illuminating - Review of Jonathan Harr's The Lost Painting" Daniel Jimerfield Caravaggio was an Italian painter who died at the age of 39 in the year 1610. During his lifetime, he had achieved a mild degree of celebrity which was not to last. It was not until 1941 that Roberto Longhi, the acclaimed art historian, began to champion Caravaggio as the "least known (Master) in Italian art." Longhi put together an exhibition in 1951 which would lead to a resurgence in appreciation ... Read More |
